Thursday, August 03, 2006

Big Bucks...Stop!

Beckett's gotta learn to stop pissing everybody off. He needs to get his effing head in the game. Maybe work on pitching instead of just assuming he's good enough to win and throwing heat all the time. It's like Roy Hobbs' dad told him, "There's nothing sadder than wasted talent." Or was that C's dad in A Bronx Tale?

Either way, if the guy had just pitched a tiny bit better, we win. Instead, we're in second place. I'm sure Yankee fans are fulfilled spiritually with their hired guns and payroll that's nearly twice that of ours. And if you're a fan of neither team and try to tell me that the Red Sox and Yanks are the same and both have a lot of money, well, congratulations, you've been brainwashed by Steinbrenner. (Or you're a closet Yankee fan.) All non-Yankee teams ARE the proverbial little engines that could. We'll love you when your team wins the World Series, because you're not the Yanks, and you should love us when we win it, because we're not the Yanks. (Guillen-era White Sox fans not included, you're on your own.)

I agree totally with your point, Jer. Sometimes it seems when Josh gets flustered (6th inning before grand salami), he reaches back for something extra on his number one, and it is usually down the middle of the plate, where it is met by the opposing hitter's bat and deposited air mail into the seats. He's got to start mixing up his pitches. When he's done that this season, his games have been gems. Frusrating? Damn right!

Jere, I was hoping for your comments on my comment. Do you think my point(s) were valid. It sure has looked that way to me, even when Tek is behind the plate. And I just wrote a post at my place about our loss, and the expected noon news conference re: Javy. He's no Tek. I'd love your comments over there. Have a great weekend. Thanks. Hi to your Mom.

Guys like Stern, Choi, Alvarez, Pauley- they're fungible commodities. Adam Stern would top out as a 4th OF on a non-contending team, so he's always been an ideal trade chip.

I'd prefer give up Alvarez, but I wouldn't lose much sleep over Adam Stern. That profile player is actually something the Sox have in GREAT supply in their system, only better (Ellsbury, Corsaletti, Murphy, Place, Turner, etc).

Stern would never have held down a roster spot in Boston save for an emergency. But, he had some decent upside, so maybe he'll get some playing time in BAL if it's him.

Also, it looks like it will likely be more than three weeks, and when he comes back, depending on him to be 100% able to catch every game is unlikely. This is a smart deal if only because it allows you to use a semi-comparable offensive player to lighten his load a bit. Varitek won't be back until after rosters expand, so you can then carry three catchers (JV/ Lopez/ Mirabelli).

Murphy's really turned it around. I've always sort of unconsciously been down on him because we took him before Conor Jackson, and Jackson turned into a Paul Konerko-plus clone in the minors, while Murphy just floundered.

But he's been absolutely fantastic this season. If nothing else, his value in what he'd bring in a trade has really gone up, and at worse, I wouldn't mind giving him a look at the 5th OF behind Pena/ LH 4th OF next season.

Looks like Machado IS in the lineup, so it's really probably either Alvarez or Stern, since it's unlikely BAL would like Choi, who's on the DL.

Also didn't realize how terrible Stern had been this year- 260/ 299/ 393 line in 366 ABs. Yikes. He's too old to be fumbling at AAA.

Stern just needs to be in the majors to improve those numbers, heh heh. I base my Murphy prediction on an old guy who saw Murphy and Murton in Cape League action and was really impressed. He turned out to be pretty correct on Murton... so we should keep Murphy.